Champions League 2009

[Zap_Brannigan]

Offtopic: The big bash T20 domestic tourney in Australia will be quite an event this year with the likes of UV, Afridi (NSW), Gayle (WA), Malinga(Tasmania) and Murali/Flintoff and Bravo (Victoria) are expected to play in it. :eyedance:

CL is a boon to a lot of these clubs and a chance for them to get the big bucks. Even participating in it will bring them a lot of money. So don't be surprised if Aus, Eng,SA clubs pay a lot of money to get Intl players just so they can qualify for this tournament. Right now, the teams are not balanced. But i expect the quality of foreign teams to improve in a couple of years.

[Don Sharma]

CL is a boon to a lot of these clubs and a chance for them to get the big bucks. Even participating in it will bring them a lot of money. So don't be surprised if Aus, Eng,SA clubs pay a lot of money to get Intl players just so they can qualify for this tournament. Right now, the teams are not balanced. But i expect the quality of foreign teams to improve in a couple of years.

I agree. The foreign teams barring NSW may not be balanced but they still can cause an upset or two. At the end of the day, the format is such that one good innings or one decent spell can set up the match for your team. Going by that, every team has (potential) match winner(s). I am particularly excited about watching the likes of Hamish Rutherford, Pandey, Dillon du Preez, Engelbrecht, Adrian Bharath, Darren Bravo, etc. Should be fun...

[Params7]

If the 4 foreigner rule is still in effect, they should scrap it asap. Part of what makes IPL awesome is the combination of national teams.

[ludhianvi]

Chanaka Welegedara from the Wayamba team looked impressive to me. A left arm fast-medium pacer in the mold of Zaheer Khan in some ways. Good line and length with decent pace around 137km/h. SL selectors should pick him up and play him in the SL ODI team!!

[Shane]

There could be a scenario where Victoria meets NSW in the semis.

[Riley's Girl]

There could be a scenario where Victoria meets NSW in the semis.

That scenario would suck.

[Shane]

That scenario would suck.

Not if you are an Indian.

[Riley's Girl]

Not if you are an Indian.

As a South African I am honor bound to support the Cape Cobras to the bitter end. :winky:

[Shane]

As a South African I am honor bound to support the Cape Cobras to the bitter end. :winky:

And I would love to see T&T pwn em all. :winky: Hum uss Des ke wasi hai, Jis Des mein Ganga rehta hai ! :D

[Riley's Girl]

And I would love to see T&T pwn em all. :winky:

That is a very real possibility in my realm of existance, but I won't let it keep me up at night :winky:

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County sides need time to recharge if they are to spark in Champions League | Vic Marks Somerset and Sussex mustered one win in India, and the treadmill of county cricket should take much of the blame. More... County sides need time to recharge if they are to spark in Champions League Somerset and Sussex mustered one win in India, and the treadmill of county cricket should take much of the blame It took a long time for the Champions League to come to fruition after the false start last year. But let it blossom. There is most definitely a place for a global club tournament. They need no convincing of that in Australia, Cape Town or Trinidad & Tobago. They are not so sure in India and in England, where the post-mortems have begun. No Indian side could make the semi-finals. As a consequence the stands emptied and there has been much talk of the saturation of the Indian public with Twenty20 cricket. My guess is that those stands would have been full if the Deccan Chargers, the Delhi Daredevils and the Royal Challengers Bangalore had reached the last stages of the tournament. But the Indian sides did not deserve to get there. They lacked the hunger of the other teams as if they recognised that more IPL riches were just around the corner in March and April. And some of their superstars began to look their age. The likes of Scott Styris and Adam Gilchrist were knocking on when they were signed up a couple of years ago. Cricket is no respecter of reputations. It transpired that the IPL teams were not the best Twenty20 club sides in the world. Thus a little IPL bubble was burst. The two English sides could win just one match between them – Somerset's little epic against the Deccan Chargers. The immediate conclusion could be that here is confirmation of the inferiority of English county cricket. Here too might be an argument for the franchise system, so clumsily promulgated by Surrey and Keith Bradshaw, the chief executive of the MCC, last year so that the proposal alienated at a stroke all those who do not possess a Test match ground. Perhaps it would be better to siphon the available talent in English cricket into fewer teams. Actually I don't think the explanation for the modest performances of Sussex and Somerset, undoubtedly two of our best one-day sides, is that simple. If we analyse their performances in India, both sides were competitive, well-organised and highly competent in the field. Their bowling attacks may have lacked the cutting edge of a Brett Lee or an expert mystery spinner but they knew what they were doing. Their fielding was of high quality. By contrast both sides were impotent with the bat. I do not ascribe this to a lack of talent, more a lack of vitality, a lack of spark. There were tired English-based cricketers out there. This could be concealed by good organisation in the field. But when batting in Twenty20, where instincts and reflexes must combine without any time for acclimatisation, there was nothing left to give. One example: the only English batsman to play with freedom and freshness was Wes Durston, who produced two cameos when he replaced Marcus Trescothick in the Somerset side. Durston had barely played a first-team game for Somerset throughout the 2009 season, yet he scored runs more effortlessly than anyone. Durston was fresh. The rest of the batsmen of Somerset and Sussex were jaded. And it showed. They doggedly searched for the magic elixir but there was nothing left to give on pitches that often negated easy strokeplay. The sides from South Africa, Australia and Trinidad & Tobago had time to prepare for this tournament, recognising that the rewards were substantial. They were fresh, hungry and talented. By contrast the English teams could only prepare by resting after their gruelling season. Even so every county team will be aching for a Champions League berth next year. Even in defeat Somerset and Sussex sides were mesmerised by the event. Somerset's chairman, Andy Nash, was entranced by the tournament, which prompted him to make some memorable observations: "What I've seen in India is Bollywood, whereas we are more Under Milk Wood." But whether Nash and his fellow county chairmen will be moved to take the logical next step to enhance the counties' success in the Champions League – by reducing the annual burden of county cricketers throughout the English summer – is another matter.

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"Delhi wicket is like Sydney" The tricky Ferozshah Kotla pitch at last got a supporter in New South Wales skipper Simon Katich. More... Thursday 22nd October 2009 "Delhi wicket is like Sydney" The tricky Ferozshah Kotla pitch at last got a supporter in New South Wales skipper Simon Katich. Katich feels having played most of their games in Delhi, his side would have preferred to play Airtel Champions League Twenty20 final there. "Hyderabad wicket is like playing in Perth and Delhi wicket is like playing in Sydney. We mostly play in Sydney so we loved the conditions in Delhi," said Katich after arriving in Hyderabad from Delhi of the summit clash on Friday. "We lost to Trinidad and Tobago but a lot of positives came out of that game and fortunately, it didn't cost us too badly," he said. Barring two games, NSW played all their matches in Delhi and were quite familiar with the low and slow conditions there. The Katich-led side even posted the highest total at the venue -- 169 -- against country cousins Victoria on Wednesday in the first semifinal, which they won by 79 runs. The NSW captain also said that they are taking Friday's summit clash as any other game and are focussed to give their best on the field. "We will treat the final same as any game we have played. "Final is going to be a tough game" Whoever we play, we know it's going to be tough match, so from that point of view we are really focussed on our preparations. "We are making sure that all 11 players of the team are ready to go out in the field and execute the plans. We have played some really good cricket and hopefully, we play better cricket tomorrow," Katich said. Katich does not have any preference who their rivals would be in Friday's final but said if Trinidad and Tobago progresses to the title clash, it would provide his team an opportunity to avenge their league stage defeat. "No preferences. Both teams are very good and every team deserves to be here. They are champions in their own country. Whoever we play, we know it is going to be a tough game," Katich said. "There is no point in pre-empting. We have not played Cape Cobras but if we are playing Trinidad, we have to come up with a few different plans than last time. This time we hope to get revenge and if it happens to be in the final that will be great," the left-handed batsman, who is a regular in Australia's Test team said.

[champ]

The tricky Ferozshah Kotla pitch at last got a supporter in New South Wales skipper Simon Katich. More...

well u surely wont have issues until u lose.. that pitch sucked .. enuf of the support ..